


The First Queen

by ReleasingmyInsanity



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Book: The Magician's Nephew, Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Gen, POV Female Character, Women Being Awesome, Women In Power
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-15 08:45:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13609764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReleasingmyInsanity/pseuds/ReleasingmyInsanity
Summary: A story about how Queen Helen came to Narnia.





	The First Queen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rosefox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosefox/gifts).



The day Queen Helen arrived in Narnia was not a particularly special day in England. Her husband was out on his work as a cabby with their only horse, Strawberry. Nellie (for she was not Queen Helen yet, only Nellie, the wife of a hansom cab driver), was in the middle of her daily routine. Nellie cleared away her teacup from the table. An occasional cup of tea being one of the few luxuries that they could afford. There was no sugar, which was a pity, but she liked it fine without.

Setting her cup next to the sink and putting on her apron, Nellie pumped water to wash the dishes. She pushed back a lock of brown hair that had pulled lose from her bright blue hair ribbon. The same color she remembered the country skies being. Not at all like the dreary grey that the London sky always seemed to be.

Nellie poured the soap flakes out of the box and into her wash basin. Careful not to use too many for they had to make everything last as long as they could, she began to hum. At first the hum was a tuneless, yet pleasant sound. As she washed the dishes, however, she began to hum a very old song. She could not remember the words, or even the name, but the tune came to her as naturally as it would to a bird.

Nellie continued to hum with contentment. Life was hard, but she had what she needed to get by and the love of her beloved husband. As this thought crossed through her mind, she heard a different sound. A single clear note, unlike anything she had ever heard before. She stopped to listen, and suddenly felt compelled to take a step. Normally this would have been a foolish thought, as there was no room ahead of her. But she obeyed the feeling and stepped forward into a new land.

At first, she thought that she must be dreaming. Perhaps she had fallen asleep as she drank her tea, and would soon wake to find herself back in her tiny cottage. It was a pleasant dream, the air was fresh, the grass lush and green, far more enjoyable than dull plain London. There was her husband, and dear Strawberry, and there... There was a lion. She ought to have been frightened, as anyone would be when confronted with a lion standing so close to them. And yet she did not feel frightened. There was something about him that felt safe and not at all safe all at once. Nellie dropped a half curtsy, as she had been taught to do when introduced to someone of great importance. And wished that she were wearing her best dress and hat with the imitation cherries on it.

She began to feel that perhaps she was not dreaming after all, that perhaps this was real. Nellie went quickly to her husband and put her hand in his. He certainly felt real, and the gentle squeeze he gave her hand assured her that this was not a flight of fancy. This was simply the truth.

"My children," the lion spoke, addressing Nellie and her husband. "You are to be the first King and Queen of Narnia."

Nellie could feel her face turning red. A queen? Her? She was only a simple country woman, she could cook and clean and mend, she was good with her hands. But she didn't know the first thing about ruling a country. But as the lion, Aslan, spoke, Nellie felt her fear subside. And she did so want to do what she could for these dear animals. She was coming to care for them already.

As they waited for Strawberry, or Fledge as she supposed he should be called now, and the children to return with the apple, preparations began for the coronation. Chairs were built, and crowns were fashioned out of gold and silver from the new trees that had grown up like magic.

She replaced her simple brown dress with the new clothing she had been given. Her new attire much finer than anything she had ever owned or touched before. These garments were so lovely that they would have put even Her Majesty The Queen herself to shame. The Queen! Wonder of wonders. Now Helen, for her given name, which had seemed far too grand in London suited her perfectly in this new land. Helen herself was to be a queen. Queen of a kingdom so new that it had only just been created.

Then it came time for the coronation. As they knelt before Aslan and the crowns were placed on their heads. Helen looked at her husband, and found Frank as changed as she herself felt. And yet he was not as changed as all that. It was as though he had returned to the younger Frank, the country boy she married, but with a new maturity about him. And she loved him.

Then Aslan spoke. "Rise up King and Queen of Narnia, father and mother of many kings that shall be in Narnia and the Isles and Archenland. Be just and merciful and brave. The blessing is upon you."

Helen took her husband's hand and stood before her people. She was shy and scared, but she was determined to do her best. And that, more than anything, prepared her to be Narnia's Queen.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Queen Helen so darn much. I wish there was more about her.
> 
> My request letter mentioned imitating the style of the original author. Boy did C.S. Lewis like long sentences. I broke some of them up so that they're easier to read, but I tried to follow the style of the books.  
> I'm not sure when indoor taps became a thing, but since they're poor, I figured it was reasonable for her to be using a pump.
> 
> Boxed soap flakes were fairly new at this time, but had been on the shelves for a few years by 1900.
> 
> I hadn't realized that most of the details I had thought were canon about Queen Helen were all in my head, so enjoy my imagination of what she looks like.
> 
> I fudged the coronation timeline slightly so that the gold and silver trees were discovered slightly sooner and they had crowns by the time Fledge, Polly, and Digory returned.
> 
> This isn't really related to this story, but take a moment to imagine Queen Helen and King Frank not being white. I keep having emotions over the idea of Narnia's first rulers being anything other than white.


End file.
